The handshake-that-wasn’t caused the interwebs to short-circuit for awhile.
Prince Charles admits that he didn’t shake Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence’s hands at the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on Thursday. But the Palace said it was not a snub.
Was Prince Charles throwing “shade” on Vice President Pence?
It sure looked shady:
Prince Charles just big timed the shit out of Pence 😳pic.twitter.com/cyHLugkoRx
— Danny Ocean (@The_UnSilent_) January 23, 2020
That scene was spreading virally on the interwebs, but Pence’s office said: “hold on a minute.”
This was the scene just moments before.
But in reality, Prince Charles had already met with VP Pence before the non-handshake, according to the VP’s press secretary. There’s always more to the story. (2/2)
pic.twitter.com/w1UgojIOzW— Chloe Salsameda (@ChloeSalsameda) January 23, 2020
Pence and Prince Charles were yucking it up outside the formal setting:
All smiles as VP Pence exchanges greetings with Prince Charles at World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem which @VP addressed this morning. (Official White House Photo Myles D. Cullen) pic.twitter.com/R85PXgBxHo
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 23, 2020
The BBC also reported that the Palace said it wasn’t a snub:
A Buckingham Palace official has denied this was a snub, telling the BBC that the prince and Mr Pence had a “long and warm conversation” before the ceremony began.
Pence and Prince Charles both addressed the gathering :
…Prince Charles warned that “hatred and intolerance still lurk in the human heart” and said people “must be fearless in confronting falsehoods and resolute in resisting words and acts of violence.”
Pence, in his comments, described Iran as the one country “that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy and threatens to wipe Israel off the map.” After the conference, he visited Judaism’s holy Western Wall with Netanyahu.
The Hill reports that after Pence’s remarks both men shook hands. There’s no photo of that, apparently.
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